Sam, as he liked to be called was in many ways ahead of his time. Having come from a hard style back ground his hands were gnarled not with age but with the training he did as a much younger man toughing them on coconut trees growing on the island. I can still hear him […]
Category: finding the door
Mike Staples
A young teenager would walk into a small gym close to the famous Golden Gate park in San Francisco. Mike greeting him in his warm yet quiet way. Not understanding what I would find. Mike offered a small history of the style and then lead me through the gym not saying much. Much of what […]
Freedom
“Astride the Ox, I reach home. I am serene. The Ox too can rest.” “The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal Name” Ten Ox Herding Pictures for me are stages of practice that I find my self going though in my […]
Clarity
“The path into the light seems dark, the path forward seems to go back, the direct path seems long, true power seems weak, true purity seems tarnished, true steadfastness seems changeable, true clarity seems obscure.” You do not need more movement, you need the essence of movement. words within me, and yet not from me. String plucked […]
Wu ming
“The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal name The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth. The named is the mother of myriad things. Thus, constantly free of desire. One observes its wonders. Constantly filled with desire One observes its manifestations […]
Awake
A typical 6hr training session in land of the morning calm “Korea” another hot humid summer day, shrill cry of the cicadas, interrupted by a visitor who had been watching. Another young GI much like myself. He asked Mr Park if he could spar with me. Mr. Park sensing his intent told me to “knock […]
Awakening
In choosing the red pill “teacher” training I did not really understand the implications of this. Being young as is sometimes the case I thought I understood and could always figure it out later, right? The military base I was stationed at in Korea, Camp Edwards very close to the “DMZ” still a long trip […]
Beginnings
In my own journey to emptiness I have had many teachers/guides along the way. In the 70s as a young teenager growing up in San Francisco during the troubled times of the day. Looking for a refuge, Chinese Martial Arts opened its door and invited me in….little did I know I could never leave. […]
Master Zhang Yongliang
I was introduced to Master Zhang through a student of his David Kong, who had a push hand group in San Francisco many years ago. 認識張師傅是透過他的一個學生孔大衛。孔大衛多年前在舊金山組織了一個推手團體。 In meeting Master Zhang, his teaching and skill sets were so different and unique, I would spend the next ten years to this day following and studying from him, […]
The quiet master
沉默的大師 Many years ago I walked up these steps not knowing what I would find. Later I would watch many others stand on these steps waiting to be invited into the world I was entering. The ending and beginning of my own journey to emptiness would start with the first meeting. My name is David, […]